SAHIL NAYYAR WINS PAN AMERICAN OPEN SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP
Canada’s Sahil Nayyar has earned a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card starting from next season after he defeated Brazil’s Fabio Anderson Luersen 5-1 in the final of the 2024 Pan American Open Snooker Championship.
Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association (PABSA) staged the annual championship at La Bande O’ Coin, Saint-Lambert in Canada from 9-13 October and Nayyar came through a field of 62 cueists from Canada, USA and Brazil to secure the title.
As a result of his success in the prestigious event, the Canadian will be invited to compete on the professional tour from the start of the 2025/26 season.
Earlier in the week Luersen, who finished runner-up in the Open Championship, won the Pan American Seniors Championship and earned a place at the 2025 World Seniors Championship at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Four victories from six matches were enough for eventual champion Nayyar to qualify from his initial seven-player group phase, before victories over American Tommy Kollins and fellow countryman Wei Gao saw the Canadian book his place in the quarter-finals.
From there, back-to-back whitewash victories over Andy McCloskey and Floyd Ziegler saw Nayyar storm into the final in style.
Recently crowned Pan American Seniors champion Luersen was his opponent after he had beaten former United States national champion Ajeya Prabhakar, 2021 Pan American champion Victor Sarkis and Canadian Gilles Boismenu to reach the title match.
Photos: PABSA
Breaks of 81 and 55 helped Nayyar charge into a 4-0 lead as he moved one frame away from glory in the best-of-nine frame final.
Luersen managed to avoid the whitewash with help from a break of 48 in frame five, but it was too little too late as Nayyar hit back with a break of 47 to get over the line and complete a 5-1 victory.
Congratulations Sahil Nayyar
It’s been a long time we had a Canadian player on the Main Tour.
Unless I’m mistaken the last Canadian to play on the Main Tour as a professional was Alain Robidoux ( pro from 1987 to 2004).
The last Canadian to play on the Main Tour, as a top-up was Alex Pagulayan. “The Lion” was born in the Philippines, but emigrated to Canada with his parents at the age of 13 and had become a Canadian Citizen in 2012. He is primarily a pool player, but in 2014 he played in the Q-School. He won seven matches in the Q-School, lost two. He reached the QFs in event 2. It wasn’t enough to qualify for the Main Tour, but it was enough to get invitations as a top-up. He played in the 2014 Australian Open, the 2014 Shanghai Masters and the 2014 International Championship. He didn’t win a match on the Main Tour.
EBSA Event in Portugal
The 6-reds competition is currently in his final stages, with the QFs underway.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 